Worried about my FD

[Mikey22]

Hey Guys,

I\'m loosing a little faith in my FD, i seem to be getting no where with it. I first bought it a year and a half ago, i bought it knowing i\'d have to do some work with it, so far ive changed the following,

Coolant hoses
Spark plugs
Water pump gasket
Plenum gaskets
Ignition coil packs

I\'ve had it running then it stops then running again then stops. I just cant seem to figure the car out. At the moment i cant afford a rebuild so i\'m using it as a last resort. I\'ve wanted an FD since i was 16, so 10 years later i finally have one but im loosing faith with it.

Heres the problem i have at the moment,

Just been out to her as been to clean spark plugs this afternoon after flooding her accidentally. I didnt feel the battery was charged enough, so i had the batt on charge for a few hours and just tried her now. After attempting to turn her over for about 10 seconds she was sputtering into life then died. My biggest fear at the moment is when i was doing this a huge cloud of smoke that came from the engine and also seemed to to fill the cab area. I was hoping it would be just because its cold outside and the engine would be very cold.

I just dont know where to start next?

Any ideas hints or tips?

[shaunwil]

Check your air pressure sensor next to the ABS pump is connected. Sounds like it isn\'t reading vaccum.

Easy fix if the pipe has popped off.

Also get a meter over the battery when you turn the car over. Could even be a case of a dead battery not giving enough Voltage to fire up properly. Check the voltage once the car fires too in case the alternator has dropped a coil.

Shaun

[Mikey22]

Its funny how the other day it fired up straight away no probs then after about 5 mins it died for no reason. Battery seemed to struggle to keep it going.

I was worried it may have been the alternator packed in.

Should i be worried about all the smoke?

[Grizzly]

Proberly wont help much but batterys dont like the Cold, if its going to pack up it will do it when the weather drops off (have to cleaned the batterys terminals and checked there tight?)

Sounds like you have to break out the multi meter, i know on mine once its running i can disconect the battery and it will run off the Alt so stright away i\'d be looking at the alt diodes etc and the Engine ground (does the battery light come on at all??) That said a fully charged battery will keep an fd running for quite a while even without the Alt conected so maybe a bad Ground??

[nadz]

do you have a apexi in there? if so you can check sensors see if anythings out and what voltage is coming out from the battery. also with the smoke coming out the engine when starting could be a gasket from the manifoold or a hole on the down pipe.

[Mikey22]

I swapped out my apexi for a standard ECU, was hoping the auto gearbox would work better with the standard until i get a swap done, Think ill change it back so i can keep an eye on the sensors etc.

[Mikey22]

Yes the batt light does stay on when trying to start. Was thinking about trying to jump start it maybe?